Reasons Not To

Because I want to be able to keep adding to the reasons to respect myself.

Because even though you're only physically hurting yourself, you're hurting the people who love you just as badly, or even more.

I have stopped cutting so I can wear shorts soon. Its already getting warm wear I live. Also I fell into like a deep pit of depression so to speak and I knew the only way to get out was to stop cutting.

Because if I harm myself I am giving the power to those that victimized me.
The relief I feel/felt is temporary and false all I am doing/did is revictimizing myself.

I must go though life with multiple scars on my arms, legs and other places now because there was a time I did not care if I lived or died. I lived because others cared enough for me. Now I must care enough not to retraumize my body and soul and not to give the power back to the abusers.

Because it's something i'd never want my kids to see or emulate.

because despite always telling myself i feel better afterward...look in the mirror, see damage and feel like crap...then can't go outdoors til it heals.

I can't even imagine stopping, even though I am well aware of all these problems,
It just doesn't go through my brain right:/.

Absolutely do not want kids I love (not my kids just yet) to see this and think it's OK or to be worried about me. Know that I am not a good grown-up for caving in to it (self-respect). Because it scares girlfriends and my mom when they find out.

Because I deserve better.
Because guilt is an evaluation of my behaviour rather than a sign that I've done something wrong... and that distinction is important because it points to the fact that it is not my fault.
Because beating myself is a learning and I can unlearn it.

Scars.
Loss of friends and family.
Loss of control.
Addiction.
Always feeling the need to do more, which can lead to death.
Increasing depression.
Infections.
Deadly blood diseases.
Constant uncomfortable pain.
Anxiousness.
Having to keep secrets.
Disappointment from others.
Losing yourself.
There's always something better in life.

I haven't cut in a few weeks and my reasoning is that I hate seeing the look on my moms face when she finds out that i SI. (I also don't like the scars)

i dont want to let people around me down, and destroy the work i have put into getting better. SI NEVER solves the problem, it just adds to it...

The problem is, I can't think of any personal reasons not to. But I'm scared.

My reasons are a bit more selfish, in some respects. I try not to because it proves that all those things that all those jerks said really got to you. I won't prove to them that they are capable of getting under my skin. I won't prove them right.

It took me unfortunately too long to understand that even though cutting makes me feel better in the present, it makes me feel worse and more empty in the long run. It's a quick fix, not a solution. Really wish I'd learned that sooner...

I stopped cutting because i didn't want to disappoint all the people working with me . Now that they don't really seem to care about me, i feel like i am not motivated to stop. i haven't cut since January though...

Every time I want to I think of the hurt around me it causes and most of the time for me that is enough..... that's my reasoning. Plus I have a pact with my wife we made in high school that I wouldnt if she wouldnt and she wouldnt if I wouldnt.... it seems to be working so far and that was like 6 years ago or something.... we've had a few slip ups but they are few and far between.

1. It's illogical, irrational, and pointless.

2. It hurts other people, often more than it could ever hurt you, and trust me on that one; I know from experience.

3. Plenty of health risks.

4. You could go too far and do something you regret.

5. Scars that you will later regret, as I sure as hell do.

6. The impact it has on those around you, and not just the selfishness and how they feel, but how they might react - my best mate of whom has depression, recently shared with me that he has held a [sharp object] and thought "what if?"; apparently this has happened a few times, and I believe this to be the fault of his ex and myself, as we both have put him through quite a bit regarding self-harm.

7. Because the more it's done, the more damage it does to your mentality, and the harder is to quit. With every SH moment, you are not helping yourself and covering the inside pain, but merely feeding your depression and whatever else is going on, thus making it worse for yourself, and the cycle continues.

8. Life is precious; you only get one body.

There are more reasons I could come up with, I'm sure, but these 8 come from someone who has been there, done that, recovered, and experienced it from the other side to boot, and you can sure as hell trust that those 8 reasons and well founded, tried, tested, experienced, and honest.

It's not worth it, and every time you do it, you hurt people like me, who care. There are better ways to deal with your pain, and if they don't work, you damn well make them work, and you learn to substitute a bad thing for a good thing; the alternative isn't and won't ever be worth it.

It's just not worth the pain and the trouble.

- AJ

1. Addicting
2. Scars are hard to hide
3. Infections
4. Makes you feel worse
5. Hurts the people around you even if you don't realise it

Don't Give Up

1. I feel guilty every time I do.
2. my little sister knows and she's worried
3. my boyfriend knows and he's had nightmares about it
4. I had to have a friend's help last time because I got staples stuck in my leg. It was embarassing.
5. I'd rather run. If I'm feeling physical pain I'd rather it be healthy.
6. blood is messy and it stains I ruined my favorite shorts this way.
7. people judge you
8. the scars are just a reminder of when I was weak, I hate reminders like that.
9. I can't help people if I'm too consumed in myself
10. infection is a B, and if I suddenly flip into a manic episode I might not care for the wound properly.
11. I don't have any kids yet, but I never want them to see that.
12. I hate hospitals (though I want to be a surgeon...)
13. If I do it down in Mississippi, the adolescent ward is a nightmare and I can't let myself go back there.
14. If I'm something that can just be cut up and thrown away, my mother was right.
15. I want to have a future where I'm stable, not always explaining scars dragging up old memories.

and lastly:
I don't want anything to control me, not even my own head

because i hate dealing with the guilt afterwards
the relief is only temporary, the scars are permanent
the bad guys win

Getting through something without SI'ing feels so much better than SI'ing.

It's my last year in high school and I want to have at least one whole SI-free school year in my high school life.

- AJ

NOTHING comes to mind. I enjoy my self harm. I find it soothing and about the only thing that calms me.

BUT - do it smart. Do not risk death. Do not do it in any place that you would be embarrassed if others saw it. Do what you need to "cope" with whatever has upset you. But do it SMART.